‘Downton Abbey’s’ Michelle Dockery Shares Visit With Co-Stars Dan Stevens & Allen Leech On Instagram
A month ago, the announcement Downton Abbey fans have been waiting for was finally made. There will indeed be a film based on the runaway hit that ran on PBS’s Masterpiece Theater for six years. Production, in fact, is supposed to begin this summer in the UK. Sunday, Michelle Dockery, who portrayed Mary Crawley, posted a black-and-white photo of herself with Downton Abbey co-stars Allen Leech and a mustachioed Dan Stevens to Instagram. The 36-year-old actress captioned the photo showing the three laughing in Los Angeles with “Dorks.”
Thirty-five-year-old Dan Stevens played the ill-fated Matthew Crawley in the series and posted the same photo to his Instagram account. Stevens, however, captioned his post with a mysterious message that read, “Should Matthew have a mustache for the #DowntonAbbeyMovie…? Vote below.”
Thursday Allen Leech, who played Tom Branson on the PBS series, posted his own photo to Instagram. It showed him hanging out with Dockery with the caption, “Look who’s in LA! The Dockmiester General. Soon to be my sister-in-law again. #backtotheabbey.”
Fans are thrilled to see signs of the cast spending time together again as they eagerly await the continuation of the Crawleys’ story on the big screen. Just how that story is going to play out isn’t known, but it has been confirmed that besides Michelle Dockery, Allen Leech, and Dan Stevens appearing in the film version of Downton Abbey, fans will also see Maggie Smith, Elizabeth McGovern, and Hugh Bonneville according to People.
Brian Percival directed six episodes including the series pilot and will return to direct the Downton Abbey film. Other films he directed include The Book Thief and About a Girl. Peter Kujawski, chairman of Focus Features, issued this statement about the project.
“Since the series ended, fans of Downton have long been waiting for the Crawley family’s next chapter. We’re thrilled to join this incredible group of filmmakers, actors, and craftspeople, led by Julian Fellowes and Gareth Neame, in bringing back the world of Downton to the big screen.”
One character that will not appear in the film is Lady Rose MacClane who was played by Lily James. She explained that because Rose moved to New York in the television series, it would be a stretch for her to appear in the film that’s set in England. She added, “I would have loved to come back for a scene, but for a movie it can’t be like a Christmas special and it needs to be a focused storyline. There was no space for Rose.”
A release date for the Downton Abbey movie has not yet been announced.
